Chapter 59: Tournament Day 1 (Part 1)

[Oh sweetie I'm so sorry about all you've been through! When I told your parents to send you to the same school my son was in I had no idea it would be that big of a deal! If I did I would have just went ahead and opened up a Academy right outside the Palace! D-Do you forgive your Auntie?] - Aunt Laura

[Hah... I guess... I'm still angry about the whole arranged marriage thing though.] - Rose

[Oh that? Isn't my son just the cutest ever?!? You know he's thought about you ever since you knocked sense into him but the poor dear didn't realize that he was in love with you until just recently. Now I know it might be seen as being a little meddling but I thought why not give him a push. You too honestly, after your debut you just hid away in that dusty old mansion unless forced to leave. I just HAD to get you out into the world, plus having my son and Lily's daughter together?!? Kyaa! We were so excited!] - Aunt Laura

[That's... not exactly what I-] - Rose

[Nevermind that, what's with your outfit anyway? By the Goddess it's awful...] - Aunt Laura

The rest of my night had been generally uneventful; I'd met up with her friends, along with Annabelle, immediately after my meeting with the King of Abelis. Meeting up with them had proven both a blessing and a curse as I'd had to catch them up on her conversation with the "mastermind" behind the entire plan as well as confirm some of their suspicions, Annabelle taking over on things that I either didn't hear or things that she knew more about in general. On top of that I decided to inform them of the fact that Daddy had posted some agents to watch them, which reignited the anger in my heart and while I understood his caution and loved him explicitly his actions still irritated me. It was like he totally didn't trust my judgement at all!

Next of course was comparing our experience with the Prince and the extremely short-lived "dinner-date", loath as I was to refer to it as that. For the most part our experiences had matched; the awkward dinner, the subsequent collapse of civility and her forceful exodus. However there was one part that she hadn't noticed. Apparently they hadn't been alone, according to Shade she'd sensed at least 2 more observers to the dinner which meant either the Prince had backup in case of something happening or some third party was involved. Karen, unfortunately, hadn't noticed anything but they both had the opinion that it made sense that the Prince would have multiple guards on hand so for now we assumed that the observers were connected to them. That didn't stop me from informing Daddy about them however, never knew what details could be important afterall.

Not realizing the irony of not forgetting to divulge all pertinent information I called a close to our impromptu strategy meeting and called it a night. Karen, not wanting to be apart from me after all our time apart, decided to sleep in bed with me. It took me nearly an hour to get her to promise not to molest me while I was sleeping. We had age restriction laws to keep in mind afterall, wouldn't want the novel being banned for a cheap smut scene this early in the story.

The next morning had been a bit more exciting however. The city, abuzz with excitement about the coming main tournament fights, was apparently even more excited by a recent arrival. The train from Crossroads. Originally not understanding the significance of that event when Annabelle informed me of it's arrival over breakfast, an absolute mountain of sweet meats and something similar to syrup on flat bread if you're curious, I had stared at her blankly for nearly a minute before Malaise and crew burst out laughing at my expression. I guess they found it funny? Annabelle, sniggering under her breath, informed me of who the passenger's were.

Which brings me to now, rushed down to the train station as soon as I'd finished eating I found Auntie Laura in a waiting area, the army she'd supposedly come with nowhere to be found. I guess they set up shop secretly? Politely greeting Auntie's Queensguard bodyguard Miriam I found myself pulled into a desperate hug an instant later as my affectionate Auntie gushed on about how hard I'd had it the last few months while slipping in a scarily worrying statement for the financial future of my Home.

Still angry about the entire reason I was here in the first place I took a small bit of revenge but decided to forgive her for the most part in deference to her tears. I'm too soft aren't I? Apparently shrugging off my jab at the real reason I'd been sent to school Auntie decided to instead gush about her son, excitedly revealing embarrassing secrets that I'd rather have never known about. Sighing at her apparent joy I attempted to steer the conversation back to the topic only for the 4th person in the last few days to make a similar comment about my clothing. I guess my fashion sense was still that of a guys? Although that wasn't exactly correct either since I found dressing up cute to be fun rather than a waste of effort. I guess I just didn't get the need to constantly change the fashion trends so rapidly. I mean why mess with something that looks good so much?!?

[Hah... So I've been told...] - Rose

[Hmm? Well whatever! We still have time until the first match of the day so why don't we have a little girl's day and get you a absolutely stunning outfit for your tournament debut? Miriam!] - Aunt Laura

[Yes my Queen?] - Miriam

[Get us transportation for the day, we'll need something a bit more sturdy this time.] - Aunt Laura

[Hahahaha....] - Rose

Sighing once more at the expected reaction to my clothing I decided to just bite the bullet when Auntie barreled forward on her own, I was used to it afterall.

[You'll need to try this on of course, oh and we can't have such a magnificent canvas showing anything other than the best so this will have to go with as well! Oh! I'm so happy my muse has once more graced me with her presence!!!] - Sherwall

[I know I asked this before but seriously though, are you following me?] - Rose

[Oh tsh tsh I just happened to be in town for the opening for our second branch in Academy city and when I heard that my muse and inspiration was wearing such... out of date trash I just HAD to take advanta- I mean offer my services!] - Sherwall

[You said you were taking advantage! You heard her, she said she was taking advantage!] - Rose

Deciding to update my wardrobe apparently now set in concrete Auntie and I had made our way through the city in a heavy duty looking carriage, being joined by Annabelle and Miriam as we did so. Relaxing for what felt like the first time in months I talked about recent news from Home with Auntie, nothing serious of course since we were just talking casually at the moment. It was during this "casual" conversation that I noticed our destination, a familiar looking shopfront that I swore I'd seen before but my memory refused to place it until it was too late to escape.

Launching herself out of the front door of the store a familiar blur came to a stop at the same time we did, seemingly anticipating our arrival. Her face, finally coming into focus, immediately cause me to groan in irritation. It was that crazy fashion lady that keeps showing up everywhere I go. It was at this point that I finally remembered where I'd seen the shop she exited out of at high speed. It looked exactly the same as the shop I'd seen right before that damn social. But it couldn't be the same store since that one was on the other side of the city and wasn't even nearly as big as the behemoth in front of her.

She of course got her answer a few minutes later as after ushering the group inside we'd immediately gotten down to undressing me in a private changing room. Seemingly excited at working with her "canvas" after so much time Sherwall was nearly gushing emoticons into the air around her. It was simultaneously adorable and a bit terrifying seeing her reverent devotion to making me as beautiful as possible. Although I had to admit that her work the last 2 times had been spectacular to see, to the point that, while I still didn't enjoy being treated like a dress-up doll for hours at a time I came to appreciate the final result.

At least until the maniac made her true perversion known.

[Oh hush yourself. Now can you do something about this horrendous crime against nature? We need her to be ready for public as soon as possible, she's in a tournament you know?] - Aunt Laura

[Don't worry your pretty head over it! I'll fix up my muse in a jiffy, I have a combat dress that'll do the trick perfectly!] - Sherwall

[Hmm... Combat Dresses huh? Is it effective at defense?] - Miriam

[Oh yes I would say so! I made them myself with fibers from the Fae across the waters and used my personal enchanters to apply a magic that makes them as tough as steel. It won't stop a legendary weapon or anything but it should work as well as plate armor in most situations. The price reflects this of course, I'd say it's more or less the equivalent of a smaller castle...] - Sherwall

[Auntie...?] - Rose

[Oh don't you worry about the cost sweetie I'll take care of it with my personal allowance of course.] - Aunt Laura

[Wonderful, normally I wouldn't worry about the cost for my muse but this particular item took materials not normally on the market. I daresay it's a masterpiece.] - Sherwall

[W-Wait is it really okay for me to wear something so valuable?] - Rose

[Ah! A goddess has descended among us! So humble!] - Sherwall

[You don't need to worry sweetie, if I know Sherwall as well as I do I'm willing to bet that she made this outfit with your wearing it in mind in the first place. Am I right?] - Aunt Laura

[Absolutely! No one except my magnificent muse is worthy of wearing this dress. Every hardship and every setback I kept thinking of how it would frame my canvas!] - Sherwall

[R-Right...] - Rose

Auntie, not taking my reluctance seriously, waved away my frantic objection before immediately turning the subject to what we had come for. Sherwall, seeming to be amused by my reactions, also acted as if I hadn't vehemently refused her just moments before rummaging through a side closet. Miriam, enticed by the thought of clothing being used as armor, perked up immediately, her ears twitching slightly as the crazy fashionista explained all the features of her supposed masterpiece.

My face, becoming more and more pale as Sherwall explained the item that we were buying, blanched at the idea that the clothing she was pitching to us was worth as much as an entire castle, albeit a small one. My subsequent plea to Auntie, originally meant to stop us from spending so much, was immediately misinterpreted as being worried about the cost. Of course that was true but it was more that I didn't want to spend that kind of money due to my past life where I had to watch my spending. I couldn't have survived on my own otherwise.

Of course I couldn't leave it at that regardless of Auntie's willingness to cover it so I had to continue trying but unfortunately my attempt at casually turning them down was treated as being humble instead. Even turning it around to make it clear that this was meant for me in the first place rather than being a coincidence to make it clear that I had no avenue of turning it down no matter what. Thus with a heavy heart I decided to roll with it rather than fighting any further.